Page 1 of Purrfectly Mated

Prologue

Uncle Uzzi logged onto his new laptop with a sparkle in his eye and winked at his dearly departed Betty’s picture that he kept in a silver frame on his desk.

“Twenty years without you, love, and I still remember the day I took that picture,liebling,” he whispered.

Being a male Witch, and the indirect-direct, depending on who was telling the story, descendant of the goddess of Love, Aphrodite herself, Uzzi had been gifted with many talents in his lifetime. Finding fated mates for supernaturals, including himself, was one of them.

If only Uzzi had known that he would have to live without his Betty for so long, he thought and shook his snowy white head. His locks were just as full and thick as when he’d been a young man, but instead of brown, they were white. His full beard, too.

“Someday,liebling, I will join you. At least I have my work,” he said, and told Betty about his newest case.

The supernatural community had been contacting Uzzi Stregovich for years, hailing his Magical Matchmaking Services as the premier place to find a mate.

What could he say? He had a gift, and he insisted on sharing it with the world.

“Ah, here we are. Maverick Point, New Jersey. Ooh, I wonder if that is near the famous Bear Claw Bakery,” he mused.

Uzzi scrolled through his email and clicked on the email he’d received. It seemed the Maverick Pride Neta needed help finding a mate. Now that was something Uzzi could do beyond a doubt. After another lengthy perusal over the message from the unfortunately mate-less Shifter, Uzzi felt his Magic spark and sizzle.

“Tiger, tiger, burning bright,” he said aloud, and grinned at his own joke.

“Let’s see, Maverick Point, yes, yes, I remember you,” he told the email.

Grabbing a picture of his wife, he kissed the image and winked. His Betty always knew which matches were worth making. She was his whole heart, even more so now that was gone.

“Time to make another match,liebling. Come, let’s go to work now,” he told the photo, turning back to close his computer screen.

“And as for you, I shall see you soon, my boy. Leave it to Uncle Uzzi,” he said, and clicked the power button.

Uzzi took his cell phone out and dialed the number to his favorite driving service and ordered a car to take him to the Jersey town that very night. When there was a mate to be found, time was precious.

“We are off,liebling. Time for some Magic,” he said and pressed a kiss to his finger before touching the glass over her cheek.

His wife was always with him. She was his inspiration, and his compass, always pointing true.

Nothing could stop true love, he remembered her saying with a small smile.

It was a message he carried to all his clients, and the Tigers of Maverick Point were about to find out what that meant, starting with the Neta.

Uzzi felt the Universe’s approval in the air around him and in his Magic. It was time.

“Oh yes, Neta, you are going to meet your fated mate, and very soon.”

ChapterOne

How the fuck did I wind up here?

It was all Elissa could do not to slam her face down on the table as she pondered that question for the umpteenth time since leaving her cozy Hoboken apartment to go on this so called date.

“So, babe,” the over-stuffed, heavily-cologned, and downright fugly man said.

Her date of the evening looked like something out of a bad sitcom as he tried to lean over the stained tablecloth of the rundown hotel buffet room, he’d driven two hours to get to. Waggling his caterpillar-like eyebrows, he gave her the once over and Elissa’s skin crawled.

Oh, hell no.

“I got a room upstairs, you know, forafter,” he told her, nodding his head, and biting his lower lip in a manner she assumed he thought was provocative.

At best, it was nauseating.

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